Henry Francis Warwick Augustus POV
"Am… am I being plotted against?" he muttered in a low voice, unblinking, looking at the book in front of him.
It had been a month since he discovered the magical connection with his sister, and he had attempted to excavate its potential each day since then without any luck. Today was just a day like any other since he had started practicing magic again after Ella was born.
He got up at 6 in the morning, sneaked out to the back garden, did his bows of gratitude, one to magic, one to the sun, one to everything else, and last one specially to Mother Earth.
With each bow, the magic surrounding him would expand more and more, and each day and each bow, he got more and more familiar with the magic around him.
Every day, he would use this time, after the bows, to feel the magic inside of him, and it wasn't a core or a certain place that he felt magic was pooled at.
Rather, it was as if magic were a part of every single place in his body, and every single part of him was magical. He felt the magic warm deep in his bones. It was in every vein in his body and also in the blood that flowed through those veins. It was part of his muscles, his skin, and even his baby fat. He could feel the warmth of magic in his fingers, toes, ears, nose, and eyes.
If he focused enough on feeling the magic inside of him, he would even feel the warmth of magic in his hair.
It seemed wizards and witches didn't have magical cores; instead, every part of them was magical.
Which did explain why blood, hair, and skin were such potent magical ingredients, whether in potions or as a part of any rituals. It was because they contained the magic of the wizard/witch or beast in them.
This was the conclusion he had come to after almost a year of doing and feeling magic inside of him.
After he did his morning bows, he tiptoed back to his room to practice magic until everyone else was up and about. This consisted of his usual levitation practice, which he had increased in difficulty after his break, when Ella was born.
Before his break, he practiced magic by levitating his toys, books, and even the study desk. He would use the smaller objects, like his toys and books, to practice finesse by levitating them to the very top of the ceiling, dropping them, then levitating them again just as they were about to touch the ground.
He did this to increase his reaction time and the speed at which he cast magic. It was pretty much a magical version of the game of chicken, where you let something happen until the very last second.
As for the heavier object, such as his study desk, he used it to build his magical endurance. Each day, he would levitate his study desk in the air and hold it there for as long as he could.
Both of the exercises served their own purpose, and both required a tremendous amount of focus.
In the finesse exercise, if he wasn't quick enough, the toys and book would touch the ground, and he would fail the exercise, and in the endurance exercise, if he lost focus for even a second, the desk would wobble and start to sag.
Overall, it helped him get familiar with magic and also build his focus and control of magic.
Will and Intent and all that.
However, after the break, he decided it was time to up the ante. He had been following the same routine for more than a year, so he wanted to try something new.
Which is why he substituted his study desk with his whole bed.
Each morning, he would levitate up his whole bed – mattress and the wooden frame both and hold it in the air for as long as he could. At first, he could only do this for 3 minutes, but with each passing day, he did it a little longer before he had to set it down, rest, and do it all over again.
It was similar to how bodybuilders trained, heavy weights and fewer reps.
His finesse training, on the other hand, was all about lighter weight and more focus and concentration, which he also improved. Now, rather than books and toys, he used his study desk to do this exercise.
The thought of him not being able to invoke magic in time to catch the falling desk added a lot of pressure; if he failed, he would wake up the whole house with the noise.
That is what his morning consisted of, and if someone came into his room at this time, that is what they would see.
A 6-year-old boy, still in his pajamas, with long brown hair, extending his hand and magickally lifting his whole bed up, or his study desk moving up and down in the air from the ceiling to the floor.
After his magic practice, he would get ready for Muggle school, which involved taking a shower, brushing his teeth, and getting dressed in his school's uniform.
'Can't believe elementary school kids have to wear uniforms,' he often would think as he buttoned his dress shirt.
This is one of the many things that was different from his other life.
After that, it would be time for breakfast, and he would run down the stairs, or if his mother thought he was getting late, she would send the animated mitts to knock on his door.
By the time he would run downstairs to the kitchen, everyone would already be ready for the day.
Ella was usually found seated in her high chair by their dad, who would feed her while reading the Daily Prophet. Ella's eyes would immediately hone in on him as he entered the dining room, and she would babble and coo excitedly as she extended her arms toward him.
He, too, would greet her with great exuberance, kiss her chubby cheeks, and pinch them, which usually alerted his mother to his presence, and she would bring breakfast from the kitchen.
After breakfast, his dad, Francis, would Apparate to work at the Ministry, while his mother took him to school by car. She took Ella with her, too, either just carrying her in her arms and using the car seat or using the stroller.
The primary school for kids only lasted about 4 to 5 hours, after which his mum would pick him up with Ella, and they would drive to his ballroom dance lesson, which was held in a studio near their house. It was held 3 days a week, and on the other 2 days, they just came straight home, where he did more magic practice and played with Ella if she was awake.
Babies sleep a lot. A lot!
As for his dance classes… they were fine… they helped build his flexibility and taught him about different ballroom dances like Waltz, Tango, and Foxtrot. The only complaint he had about the classes was how chaotic they were, which was normal given that the kids were about 6 to 8 years old. The kids at this age had no focus and would rather spend their time talking to other kids instead of listening to the instructors.
Which is why they had spent the first class learning how to keep their bodies straight and step.
That is all they did; they learned how to properly take a single step, which took the whole three hours. There were only 2 instructors for a class of about 20 kids, and they spent most of the lesson getting the kids' attention.
He had forgotten that kids his age lacked focus and discipline, which was completely normal.
There was this one Asian girl in that class who took it even more seriously than he did; he guessed her parents had high expectations of her. He often thought she saw him as competition rather than a dance partner.
It had been almost 8 months since he started the classes, and so far, he had learned some sequences of moves that were beginning to resemble dance movements.
Small progress, but progress nonetheless.
He did enjoy learning new things, so he was happy with the class overall.
After he came home from his dance lesson, he would play around with Ella some more and finish whatever homework he hadn't already finished while at school. By this time, his dad would usually be back from work, and they would have dinner.
He would then say goodnight to the whole family, kiss Ella, pinch her chubby cheeks some more, and go to his room to do some more magic.
That was how he spent his days.
As for why he thought someone was plotting against him. It had been just a usual morning, he got up from his bed, sneaked downstairs, being careful to avoid the creaking spots on the hardwood floor that would give him away.
He had opened the back door, which had the turn bolt and was locked from the inside, after which he would then walk to the grassy area of the back garden barefoot and sit down to bow.
However, on his day, just as he closed the door behind him and stepped outside the house, he noticed a book lying on the table near the chair where his mother usually sat with Ella in her lap if she wanted some fresh air.
He had walked toward the book and picked it, naturally curious about what a book was doing out here. It wasn't in the nature of his Ravenclaw mother to leave any books out here in the mercy of London weather. She often nagged him about leaving a book on the floor, which is why seeing a book out here had caught his attention.
'A Thoughtful Mind - by Queenie Goldstein-Kowalski'
There were multiple things that he immediately thought of. First off, he recognized the name.
It was the name of an American witch, and she was the younger sister of Tina Goldstein, who was the wife of the world's foremost Magizoologist, Newt Scamander. However, the most memorable thing about her was that she was portrayed as an absolute hottie, and she was also a natural Legilimens.
'Huh, she changed her last name. I guess that makes sense. She did marry that muglee,' whose name he had forgotten.
The second thing that came to mind was, 'Is this a magical book?'
He didn't think she would start writing a Muggle book even if she did marry a one.
If this were a magical book, then what was it doing out here?
He knew that everything that had anything to do with magic was placed in an enchanted room in the house. You would never be able to tell that wizards/witches lived in their house if it weren't for that room.
He knew the trunks of his parents from their school days, and all magical books and enchanted items were in that room.
His mother had one day explained that if anything were to happen or if they were to be attacked by "bad people", Death Eaters, he assumed, that he was to leave everything behind and run to that room as fast as possible. She had told him that – that was the only place in their entire house that was protected.
He had seen the various chests and closets inside the room when she had shown him the place. At other times, however, he wasn't allowed to go into that room as it contained "dangerous magical items" according to his mother.
If this were a magical book, then what had it been doing out here?
His question was answered as soon as he picked up the book, opened it, and started reading it. It was indeed a magical book, and as the title suggested, it was about the very basics of how a wizard's/witch's mind worked.
It discussed concepts like the importance of the mind in any magic and how to get started with things such as recognizing the influence of mind magic on oneself and others.
It was all very basic stuff and didn't have any actual steps to practice any sort of mind magic, but it laid the foundation to stuff like Confundus Charm, Bravery Charm, Cheering Charm, Memory Charm, and Legilimency and Occlumency.
It explained how and why they worked, which was perfect for what he wanted to do: explore the magical connection between him and his sister. In fact, it was too perfect.
He had been attempting to learn more about the connection by poking and prodding, but he was, of course, constrained by concerns about safety, thinking what if something were to happen that would harm his sister. He didn't want that.
The worry of his own safety and his sisters had severely limited his exploration into mind magic for the last month, so this book had come at a perfect time… a suspiciously perfect time.
This once again reminded him of his mother's question when he had told her he felt what was bothering Ella, and how specific they were. If it was his mother who left this book out here, which was the most likely answer, then that meant she knew about his morning bows, as it was placed perfectly on his way to the garden.
It also meant that his mother knew what he was attempting to do. The question was: did he have the same magical connection with his mother, or did she have one with him, and that was how she was able to find out what he was doing?
Or it could also have been that she recognized the signs of mind magic; he wasn't sure if mind magic left behind traces and if it was a beacon to magicals. He knew next to nothing about magic, so it could be for a plethora of reasons.
It could just be dumb, sheer luck that she was looking into mind magic and forgot this book outside the day before while reading, but he doubted it if that was the case.
It was more than likely she knew something; if that was the case, how long had she known?
Either way, he was very grateful for the book as it would allow him to make progress in his research and maybe even start learning about Occlumency, which would hopefully allow him to protect his thoughts and mind by the time he went to Hogwarts. There were mind rapers in that school disguised as professors, namely Severus 'Always' Snape and Albus 'Too Many Names' Dumbledore.